In a recent decision, the Dutch Supreme Court has reaffirmed the so-called principle of concordance between the law systems of the Netherlands and Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The principle of concordance entails that the countries that form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which each have their own legislative authority, should strive to have their civil and criminal law be as similar as possible. The political relations between the countries were changed significantly in 2010, resulting in...

Delegation of Investment Management under the AIFMD The delegation model of fund management, whereby self-managed investment vehicles or their management companies appoint third party investment managers and advisers, has been a key basis upon which the success of the funds industry in Ireland has been built. There are currently in excess of 5,000 Irish domiciled funds and sub-funds, with assets in excess of 1 Trillion Euro, which have been established by over 400 fund promoters based in over 50 countries....

The Central Bank of Ireland (the Central Bank), the Irish regulatory authority for the fund sector, has just published a new alternative investment fund (AIF) handbook (the AIF Handbook). This contains complete details regarding the manner in which the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) will be applied to AIFs in Ireland. The Central Bank is the first European regulator to issue this level of detailed guidance. The AIF Handbook revises and streamlines the existing non-UCITS regime in Ireland and...

New York (February 5, 2013) – Pepper Hamilton LLP has named Louis J. Freeh as its next Chair. Outgoing Chair Nina M. Gussack made the announcement today. The transition will take place later this month. “Judge Freeh is the right person to assume the Chair position at Pepper Hamilton,” said Gussack. “I look forward to supporting him as his vision and leadership continue to move us forward as a law firm always at the forefront of innovation.” Freeh succeeds Gussack, who...

Since opportunities to reverse the consequences of regrettable behavior decline with age, responsiveness to missed chances becomes a critical life-satisfaction factor in older adults. Recent life-span psychology findings show that emotional disengagement from regret is associated with increased well-being in older age. A Cognitive and Emotional Aging research group project investigated whether neurobiological mechanisms underlie such successful adaption to age-specific challenges. The study combined brain imaging with a risk-taking task that induces the feeling of regret in young as well...

The European Union ("EU") is rolling out the new "unitary" patent, which will be administered by a new Unified Patent Court. The unitary patent will be valid in 25 EU states; as of today, two EU members, Spain and Italy, are not participating in the new system. The unitary patent is expected to come into force as early as January 1, 2014, after one more procedural vote is taken. The unitary patent will not replace, but rather will co-exist with,...

United States Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) has announced significant changes to its guidelines for the acceptance and processing of late-filed petitions by principals and sureties seeking mitigation of claims for liquidated damages. The new guidelines are effective with respect to all liquidated damages claims for which a late petition is filed on or after January 9, 2013. For more information on this article, please click here. For additional information or questions please contact Edward B. Ackerman at (212)-557-4000.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently has set its sights on registered entities and their officers and directors for overvaluing the entities' assets.  On October 17, 2012, the SEC charged Yorkville Advisors LLC (Yorkville), a $1 billion Jersey City, N.J. hedge fund firm, and two of its executives with scheming to overvalue assets and exaggerate reported returns in order to hide losses and increase fees collected from investors. On November 28, 2012, the SEC accepted Offers of Settlement from...